Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and a mobile communications system for controlling a short message service.
The short message service enables a mobile subscriber of a mobile radio network to transmit and to receive alphanumeric messages via his mobile station. Each mobile subscriber is registered with his data and services in a subscriber database (i.e. a home location register (HLR)) of the mobile radio network, in which configuration a corresponding billing information item must also be present for using the short message service. One or more short messages are sent by a communication terminal of the mobile subscriber of the mobile radio network (mobile subscriber A) to another subscriber (mobile subscriber B) and is usually temporarily stored in service facilities provided for the short message service (short message service center). There are usually a number of service facilities containing temporarily stored short messages.
In the mobile radio networks, the network operators are currently not able to block certain service facilities for their own subscribers. Therefore, any mobile subscriber can send his short messages via any service facility via his communication terminal. A network operator who provides his subscribers with their own service facility cannot prevent these subscribers from using the service facilities of another network operator, thus burdening him with costs for using the foreign network facility.
In International Patent Disclosure WO 95/12292 it is disclosed to send short messages both via the short message service center (SMSC) of the sender of the short messages and via the SMSC of the receiver of the short messages, in which configuration a receiver SMSC address can be stored in the HLR so that the SM sender does not need to know this information himself. Since the SMSC address is sent from a HLR to a mobile switching center (MSC) forwarding the SM, no storage of SMSC addresses in a list of the MSC is provided in the configuration.